


Flesh Wounds

by Markovia



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blood, M/M, Sex, Sub-class, Tsuguri becomes a sub-class, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-08 21:45:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10396830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Markovia/pseuds/Markovia
Summary: The Ace of C3 deserved a chance, even if he didn't like him. But Tsurugi is too far gone for Mikuni to consider a less-drastic solution.





	1. Quite the gamble

**Author's Note:**

> Please be aware this is an extremely violent chapter. If you have issues with violence/blood I would recommend you read with caution. 
> 
> I've taken a lot of the ideas from canon, a few of my own and this is what I came up with! This will be a multi-chapter fic. I hope you enjoy.

“Such unpleasant noises you’re making.”

 

Tsurugi screamed hoarsely as the metal brand was settled on his back for the third time. He thrashed against the strong, thick leather straps securing him to the gurney but he was far too weak to escape their grip. The man was laughing at him, his dark eyes wide with excitement as he continued his assault. He stabbed his thin forefinger into the wound, causing Tsurugi to let out a harsh screech. Tears dripped freely down his face onto the table and seeped into the thin sheet covering the metal. He bit down on his bottom lip - he should have known this was what was coming when Touma called him to his office. He definitely knew when he saw light dancing in the fireplace but there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing that wouldn’t mean disobeying his master further. At first it had been a simple beating, a few punches and kicks that he could deal with easily, but Touma seemed really intent on pushing him further. 

 

"You should have listened to me, Tsurugi. I told you to  _ capture _ those subclasses, not kill them," the vice-president sneered from above him. "Does it hurt?"

 

The smaller man sobbed loudly, unable to coherently string any words together. "I….p-please…stop-"

 

"Wrong answer."

 

The searing pain stabbed beneath his shoulder blade again, hitting the same place as before. The man yelled until his cry twisted into a strangled gurgle. He strained against the straps, head raising off the gurney. When the blunt surface of the brand was removed, the man flopped back against the hard bed, his head smacking hard against the thinly-covered metal. Sobs wracked his body, making his torso spasm and he gasped for air as if the Lead that choked him earlier that night was still around his neck. 

 

“I’m sorry, Touma, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he rambled, panting. A shudder ran down his spine when he felt cool fingers trail over his shoulder, tracing the outline of the open sores. “Yes, it hurts. Fuck, it  _ hurts-” _

 

“Good boy,” the man replied, removing his hand. “Will you do _ exactly _ as I say next time?”

 

“Y-Yes, yes,” Tsurugi breathed, going entirely slack against the gurney. He felt Touma’s hand encompass the back of his neck, stroking softly through his hair. The straps around his torso loosened and fell away to the floor, chinking quietly against the metal legs of the gurney. After all these years of give and take, master and servant, Ace and King, he didn’t know whether to nuzzle against the other man’s gentle hand or throw up. His body’s natural reactions made the decision for him and, due to the intense pain burning his back and the ghost of an old friend’s weapon around his neck, he vomited. 

 

Touma tutted and stepped back as Tsurugi pushed himself onto his forearms and continued to heave onto the floor. There wasn’t much in him to come up, just this morning’s coffee and bile, so he soon quietened and collapsed back onto the gurney, breathing even more ragged than before. Touma stood at his left, toward his feet, and reached forward so that he could grab a fistful of the smaller man’s hair. He wrenched Tsurugi back onto his knees, ignoring his pained whimpers, and moved his lips close to his ear. The other hand wrapped around his throat, not hard enough to choke him, but enough to remind him of the bruise that was already blossoming there. 

 

“Touma, I-” he began, shivering as the vice president’s breath hit his skin. “I’m sorry, I’ll do whatever you say, exactly what you say, please-”

 

“Turn over,” Touma ordered, softly. He felt the smaller man swallow beneath his palm and smirked, sensing hesitation. This pathetic creature was little more than an animal to him, an attack dog blindly following him for rewards and cowering in the face of punishment. He released him and took a step back from the gurney so that he could place the metal brand back into the open fire. “We haven’t finished yet, have we? Four more.”

 

Tsurugi nodded, twisting his body painfully around so that he was sitting upright, on his backside. He slouched over, arms little more than a pair of dead weights in his lap. The vice-president narrowed his eyes and removed a cigarette from his top pocket. He thrust the end of it into the fire and drew it back so that he could place the filter in his mouth. 

 

“Do you want me to strap you down again, or will you be able to remain still this time?” Touma asked, taking in a short, sharp inhale. It wasn’t until he let out a cloud of smoke that Tsurugi replied. 

 

“I can stay still.” 

 

“Good,” Touma said, turning away from him. He kept his eyes on the brand, watching as it heated to a pale white. 

 

Tsurugi smiled briefly - any praise from Touma made him feel nauseatingly happy. Deep down, he knew it was wrong, that it was  _ so  _ wrong, but it was all he knew and he found that he liked the sick pleasure the submission brought him. He didn’t enjoy the pain, not at all, but he told himself that it was what he deserved for making Touma displeased. The smaller man shut his eyes and tried to picture something to escape the reality he was experiencing, something happy. Very little came to mind, for the man had few memories to draw on and his imagination was confined to the same white walls within which he had always lived. Before he could even draw the barest sketch of happiness behind his closed eyes, the smell of smoke pervaded his nose and a hand pressed down on his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, Touma was staring stonily at him, the smoking cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth. 

 

“Lay down,” he ordered, pushing against Tsurugi’s shoulder. The smaller man allowed his body to be lowered until his back rested on the gurney. He let out a gasp when his open sores met with the material sheet and his torso twisted under Touma’s grip, away from the pain. The vice president sighed and removed the cigarette from his mouth. He pressed the burning tip against the other man’s collarbone and forced him down with both hands, holding firm even as he thrashed and yelled. “Stop moving.”

 

“H-hurts!” he whined. He took his orders still and halted his squirming. The pain radiated across his back and he felt the material sticking to the oozing wounds uncomfortably. “Sorry, T-Touma.”

 

“Be good for me,” Touma said, soothingly running his hands over the cigarette burn. “My Ace.”

 

“Your Ac- agh!” his words exploded into a scream when the brand sizzled just under his ribs but he forced himself to remain still and bit his bottom lip. When it was removed, he let out the breath he had been holding and tasted blood on his tongue. Touma dug his fingers into Tsurugi’s hip bone to keep him steady.

 

The next three burns are as stark and startling as the previous five but he managed to remain still and as silent as possible, eyes squeezed tightly shut. The next thing he felt was clothing being thrown on his lap and Touma dragging him up by his shoulder. 

 

“Get out,” the vice president said, coldly. “I trust you’ll be able to clean yourself up?”

 

“Yes, Touma,” he replied, sitting upright. He decided not to put his long-sleeved shirt on for fear of irritating the burns further, so he draped his coat over his shoulders and buckled it tight over his chest. “Th-thank you.”

 

“Don’t disobey me again,” Touma said, toneless as ever. 

 

Tsurugi nodded and limped to the door, carrying his shirt in one hand. He closed the door to Touma’s office quietly and it was only once he was alone in the darkened corridor that he let himself shudder and lean heavily against the wall. The man didn’t linger for long, it would do no good to be found by someone else in this state, so he started to move slowly back to his room. It wasn’t far - Touma liked to keep him close. In the haze of pain, he didn’t notice the shadow watching him from the other end of the hall. 

 

His room was as blank and bare as it had always been.  He needed a shower, needed to wash away the dirt on his skin and the blood that was drying in his hair and on his torso. He needed to get rid of the phantom fingers digging into his hip and his throat. After switching on the shower, the man gently pulled off his clothes, grunting in pain as his body protested the actions. He caught an unwanted glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sink - he looked awful. His eyes were circled by dark shadows and his skin was dirty and grey. Red flecks were crusted in his hair and a small stream had dried down the side of his face, stretching to his jaw. He examined his torso momentarily, but found bile rising in his throat as he studied the wounds. A large number of red welts were embedded in his skin, large burns surrounded by emerging blue-black bruises and old, leathery scars. Larger discoloured contusions stained one of his sides - he knew what they had been caused by. Three swift, severe blows from an expensive Italian leather brogue. He winced at the memory, the way his master’s eyes had glinted with excitement as he screamed. Tsurugi gently pressed against the front of his chest, hissing in pain when he moved over a particularly swollen area. He would need an ice-pack after a shower, he hoped nothing was broken. That would be a pain when facing up against his enemies. 

The agent entered the shower and closed the glass door behind him, hissing loudly as the cold water hit his sore skin. The burns cooled slowly, the pain started to rescind. He began to relax, letting the chill wash away the grime and the blood and the memories of the day. The aches began to dull, though he knew as soon as he left the shower they would resurface - they’d certainly be worse tomorrow. The water caused the burns to flare and sting, but at least they were clean. Tsurugi closed his eyes as he shampooed his hair. His hands moved down his face and ran over his neck. The bruise circling it was terribly sore and his windpipe was still partially crushed from where the Lead had strangled him. The image of a smirk and a pair of hazel eyes filled his mind, causing panic to twist his stomach. He opened his eyes and shut off the shower, trying to ignore the image and the way his heart was racing. A wave of nausea hit him. 

With an irritated grunt, he stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, running it over his head then wrapping it around his waist. The man wished he was able to forget about his former friend but he found himself unable to. Each fond old memory, each new violent act, everything about Mikuni Alicein made him feel sick. He could barely look at the other man without feeling ashamed, though he covered this with a fake smile and sarcasm. Everything that had once been seemed so very far away. The only thing he could still remember clearly was the hate-filled gaze Mikuni gave him the moment before he left C3 the first time round. 

 

_ “Wait-” _

 

_ “Here, this what you want?” Mikuni spat.  _

 

_ He threw a wad of bills at Tsurugi’s face, followed by a punch. The agent yelped and collapsed to his knees, nursing his cheek in his hands. The notes fluttered around his face and fell to the ground in front of him but for once he wasn’t looking at the money. _

 

_ “Miku, wait-” _

 

_ “Fuck you,” the blonde snarled, viciously. “I know what you did to those people! They were human, they were part of our team! You’ll do anything he says for cash won’t you, you little wage slave?” _

 

_ “I didn’t kill them, it was the subclass that escaped!” Tsurugi exclaimed. He could feel desperation bubbling inside of him. Mikuni couldn’t leave, no, he wouldn’t let him. The other man growled angrily and his eyes burned so brightly that Tsurugi thought he might be blinded by his gaze. “I didn’t hear the alarm. Y-you know that-” _

 

_ “We both know that’s bullshit,” Mikuni replied, clenching a fist at his side. He drew in a shaky breath and turned away from the other man, who was still on his knees. “Take the money - that’s enough right? Should cover all the times I fucked you.” _

 

_ “Miku, please don’t-” _

 

_ “‘Cos that’s all you want anyway, isn’t it? Money. Like some kinda’ whore.” _

 

_ “Please-” Tsurugi begged, raising a hand toward Mikuni’s back. He felt his chest tighten, it felt like he was drowning in the inevitable and he couldn’t breathe.  _

 

_ “Shut the fuck up, scumbag,” the blonde snapped, opening the door. His voice grew a little quieter, a little less vicious. “I hate you, Tsuguri. You did this to yourself.” _

 

Tsurugi swallowed thickly and ran a hand through his damp hair, slicking it back away his face. Why hadn’t he fought back harder against Mikuni today, he mused, he could have, he was stronger and faster than the younger man. Finding no answer, he shook the question from his head and ran a hand over his face. A pair of discarded tracksuit bottoms were slung over the towel rail, where he had left them this morning, so he chucked away the towel and pulled them on. He opened the door to the bathroom, allowing the warm steam to seep into the hallway. Dim light came from the living room. The man paused on his way to the bedroom, stopping in the hall.

Hadn’t he turned the main light on, he thought, not the lamp?

The quiet sound of the radio in the kitchen area floated through the air - it had been re-tuned to a classical station and was currently playing a pleasant, American-blues track. He turned his head toward the living room at the end of the corridor and slowly began to make his way along the darkened passage. As he drew closer, he was hit by the overwhelming stench of coffee and smoke. Tsurugi hated coffee, he only forced himself to drink it in the morning to keep him going - he never drank it at night. He felt his stomach drop. There was one person he knew whose breath always smelt of rich roast and expensive tobacco, but - no, it couldn’t be. He had locked the door. Was he in so much pain that he was imagining things?

Tsurugi tiptoed into his bedroom and taking care not to make much noise, and retrieved the flick-knife he kept in his underwear drawer. The man froze when he heard the creak of floorboards behind him.

 

“Put the knife down, Tsurugi.”

 

The C3 agent gripped the weapon tightly and stood, slowing turning to face the intruder. He knew that voice, he would know it anywhere but it wasn’t until he saw him stood in the doorway, holding a cup of steaming coffee and a cigarette, that he believed he was really there. Mikuni stepped toward him, his thin lips stretching into an unpleasant grin. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a mustard sweater, from out of which peeked a white shirt.  Tsurugi noted that he looked too collected, too calm compared to how he was feeling. For once, he couldn’t even muster the energy to cover his anxiety with a false, jovial grin. He became all too aware of his abused, naked torso at that moment and took a step back. Mikuni settled his mug on the desk next to the door and placed his hands in his pockets, leaning against the doorframe as if he owned the place. It was that laissez-faire action that jerked him out of his nervousness, so Tsurugi smiled widely and raised the knife level with the other man’s head. Mikuni’s smile faltered and his face dropped into a serious expression.

 

“Hii-ii, Miku-”

 

“Put it down.”

“What are you doing here?” Tsurugi asked. Despite the smile, his voice was shaking - he blamed it on the shock, or the pain, something other than what it actually was. 

Mikuni tilted his head gently to one side. “Drop the knife.”

“Answer my question,” Tsurugi insisted. He knew Mikuni could see the way the knife was shaking in his hand and the blonde haired man took a step forward, a dark smirk rising on his face. He placed the still-smoking cigarette in his mouth and took a long drag. Tsurugi twisted the knife in the air and tried to still his trembling fingers - the smoke was sending his thoughts haywire, Mikuni’s face was blurring, he could see Touma through the haze. The agent’s smile started to falter.

The blonde let out a breath of smoke and stabbed the cigarette out on Tsurugi’s desk. The smaller man coughed as the smoke hit his face and he was distracted enough that he didn’t see Mikuni dart forward and land a fist on the particularly severe burn on the rib below his heart. He let out a howl of pain and his knees buckled, sending him to the floor. Mikuni stamped on his hand, forcing him to drop the knife. Tsurugi wheezed, clutching his side in agony.

 

“M-Mi-Miku-” he panted, winded by the punch. As he struggled for breath he searched for his knife only to find it was now in the hand of his enemy.

Mikuni was violent in a clever way, he never initiated. He waited until his opponent made the first move then he would lash out with greater power, greater violence. He wanted to make it clear that his opponent was the victim but that he was playing fair, he was provoked. Mikuni always played by the unfair rules - the two men were alike in that regard. The blonde bent at the waist and grabbed ahold of Tsurugi’s chin, forcing the dark-haired man to look up at him. He held the point of the knife against the other man’s forehead, digging the metal painfully into his skin. He smiled lightly but his gaze was cold. Tsurugi had always been blinded by Mikuni’s brightness, his brilliance - these days his view had changed. It was not brightness, quite the opposite in fact. He was a black hole now, stark, cold, darkness. He was a being that drained everything around him - he would have made a good vampire. 

“That’s better, isn’t it?” Mikuni murmured. The hand on his chin moved up to stroke the brunet’s hair gently. Tsurugi shuddered - he hated when Mikuni acted softly, it was too stark a change from his usual approach, too harsh a reminder of days gone by. “Play nice, okay? You look like you’ve been roughed up enough for one day.”

 

Tsurugi nodded slowly. He hated himself for being so weak, but better to be cautious than injured further. He let out a sigh of relief when the knife was lowered and the hand in his hair disappeared. Mikuni smiled at him, baring a row of shining teeth. 

“Good boy,” he purred. 

The smaller man hated the way the Mikuni’s false praise still affected him, how it had always affected him and the way a sick pleasure filled his chest. “Why are you here?”

 

“I came to see if you were okay after our little fight today,” Mikuni replied, frowning. His gaze flickered up and down the other man’s ruined torso. “Looks like you’re in worse condition than I thought.”

 

“I’m fine,” Tsurugi muttered, pushing himself up into a sitting position. For once, he wasn’t glad to see the blonde, he just wanted to tend to his injuries and sleep. “Get out, Miku. I’m not in the mood to play tonight.”

 

“No, you’re not fine. Look at yourself.” 

 

“F-fuck you,” Tsurugi answered, wincing. “Get out.”

Mikuni sighed and pressed the knife back into his chest. Before he could break the skin, Tsurugi lurched forward, gritting his teeth to deal with the agony, and pushed Mikuni backward onto the floor. He smashed the blonde’s wrist into the floor as he straddled his waist, sending the knife skittering underneath his desk. Blind fury was written across Mikuni’s face and finally panic hit Tsurugi like a freight train, panic he hadn’t felt to this degree all night. With Touma he knew what to expect, he knew the kinds of things he would inflict but Mikuni was wild, unpredictable and he was free to do as he pleased. The blonde’s hand shot out and dug underneath the other’s ribs, fingers tearing into an open wound. Tsurugi let out a whine as Mikuni flipped them, so the blonde was now straddling him. The C3 agent began to panic as his hands were pinned down beside his head.

“No! Get off!” he yelped, unable to move Mikuni’s steely grip. One hand let go and moved to his neck, gripping his throat tightly. “Get the f-fuck off!”

“Calm down, Tsurugi,” Mikuni ordered, frowning.

The brunet shook his head feverently, trying to jerk away from Mikuni’s chokehold. When the other man didn’t move he made an effort to calm his breathing. A couple of minutes passed, the only sound filling the room was laboured panting from Tsurugi. Eventually, he relaxed and Mikuni removed his hand from his neck. The blonde leaned down, hands resting on either side of the other man’s head.

“Good,” he commented, calmly. Tsurugi shivered as warm breath hit his face. He turned his head to one side - he couldn’t handle the close proximity of those dangerous hazel eyes. “Now, I’m going to get off of you. I want you to lie down on the bed so I can examine your injuries. Can you do that for me, Tsurugi?”

“Yes,” Tsurugi replied, quietly. He didn’t have the energy to fight back at the moment, his body was protesting against even the slightest movement. It wouldn’t do any harm to have a someone check him over, even if it was Mikuni. The blonde had always been adept at stitching a wound or cleaning a burn - he remembered that from their time together at C3. From the time he jumped in front of an unstoppable blade for the other man. 

“Very good,” he hummed. The sultry sound made the agent’s stomach twist nervously. The blonde pushed himself away from the floor and stepped off Tsurugi, much to his relief. Mikuni gestured to the bed. “If you please.”

Tsurugi grunted as he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, then his feet. Mikuni smiled down at him but made no move to help. The dark-haired man avoided his gaze and flopped onto the bed. He swung his legs around so he could lay down, back protesting the impact, while Mikuni wheeled over the desk chair and sat at the bedside, gaze raking over his torso. Uncomfortable, the C3 agent closed his eyes and let the blonde inspect him in silence. He flinched when cold fingers danced over his skin, avoiding the burns whilst occasionally pressing lightly on bruised areas to check for internal damage.

“Hmm,” he mused, as he held his palm over the severe mark under the man’s heart. He pressed a little harder. “Does this hurt?”

“Obviously, Miku,” he replied, through gritted teeth. Despite the fleeting pricks of pain, Mikuni’s careful touches felt good - he shook that thought quickly from his mind. Mikuni’s hand skimmed across the damaged rib, thumb and forefinger on either side. The blonde pursed his lips, an action noticed by the other. “Is anything broken?”

Mikuni shook his head and moved his hands to another area. “No.”

 

“Good,” he sighed. Surface wounds, bruises and burns were nothing he couldn’t smile and bear for a while. 

 

“I presume  _ this _ ,” Mikuni said, gesturing down his torso. “Is Touma’s doing.”

 

Tsurugi didn’t reply, he just turned his head to the side and let the blonde continue his inspection. Mikuni trailed his finger down the side of the man’s neck, taking note of the way his pulse was starting to pick up in speed. The blonde chuckled under his breath and stroked down his chest, fingertips barely skimming the burned skin. He leaned in close to Tsurugi’s ear and spoke in barely a whisper. The injured man shivered when he heard the way Mikuni breathed roughly, as he always did when he was excited. He had heard it earlier when the blonde’s Lead was choking him and many times before than in more intimate situations. 

 

“This,” Tsurugi murmured, pointing to the purpling shadow around his neck. “Was yours.” 

“I don’t know why you follow that man so blindly. Not when he does things like this to you,” Mikuni continued, ignoring the last comment. His gentle actions ceased and he raked his fingernails down one of the few unblemished areas of the other man’s chest. The C3 agent hissed in pain but Mikuni noted the way his eyes dilated. Although the blonde wasn’t on pleasant terms with Tsurugi these days, they had once been very close, and it irked him to see the man so heavily the vice president’s influence. He didn’t understand why Tsurugi subjected himself to such treatment, why he was so blindly submissive to such a brute. Perhaps it was his obsession with money. That was another thing that confused Mikuni - why gather all that money if he never spent it? Tsurugi’s life was so blank, he owned nothing,  _ he was nothing.  _

 

“Touma-”

 

“Was this a punishment for something?” Mikuni asked, brow furrowing in anger. “Or just another transaction? I don't doubt that you would let Touma do anything to your pathetic body in exchange for money.”

 

“N-not a transaction, asshole,” Tsurugi snapped. 

 

“You used to do whatever anyone asked for a couple of bucks. I bet you still do,” the blonde continued, digging his fingers into a bruise on the other’s hip. Tsurugi grit his teeth together and let out a grunt of pain. “I bet if I asked you to let me kill you, you’d say yes. What would the price be for that, hmm?”

 

“For you, Miku - nothing,” he replied, tilting his head so that his throat was bared. He gave Mikuni a nasty grin and his shiny eyes narrowed. “Go ahead, you fucking asshole. You were so close earlier.”

The blonde looked down at the pale neck being offered up to him. The temptation to place his hand over it and squeezed until Tsurugi’s face turned purple or he felt a crack beneath his palm was strong. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, willing the pleasing image of choking the other man to death out of his mind. The agent never failed to anger him, he  _ despised  _ him. Perhaps it would be better to kill the strange creature laid out in front of him. Kinder, maybe. 

 

“You’re an idiot, Tsurugi, offering your neck up so readily,” he spoke lowly and the warm breath from his mouth sent a shiver down the other man’s spine. “I could kill you quietly and drop your worthless corpse somewhere no-one will find it. Not that I imagine anyone would be looking, not even Touma - he’d just find a new toy. Who would look for a maggot such as you?”

“You wouldn’t kill me, Miku,” Tsurugi smiled. “Not after  _ everything  _ that happened between us.”

 

“Nothing happened between us.”

 

The agent scowled but there was a strange pang of sadness in his chest. “Denying that only makes you an idiot.”

 

Mikuni smirked unpleasantly. His hazel eyes shone with rage and his body with tense with trying to restrain himself. “It became nothing the moment you sold yourself to whoever was buying,  _ scumbag _ .”

 

Tsurugi swallowed, finding his mouth suddenly very dry. Don’t let him get to you. He forced a grin to his face. Mikuni always got to him. “Fuck you, Miku, get the fuck out of m-”

 

Mikuni slammed his hand down over the agent’s mouth and squeezed his jaw roughly. The brunet’s eyes widened above the suffocating pressure and he raised his hands to grip at the offending fingers. He halted his actions when he felt a jolt of pain from the centre of his torso and he let out a muffled cry into the hand over his lips. When the pain faded, he looked down and saw Mikuni’s other hand resting lightly on his chest. He looked back at the blonde’s face and narrowed his eyes in anger as he raised his hands to claw at the fingers still over his mouth. Mikuni sighed and dug his fingers into another wound, making the agent twist and screech in pain. Tsurugi felt tears pooling in the corner of his eye - it hurt, it hurt so much. The blonde’s fingers were so strong, he couldn’t get away from them no matter how hard he tried. Mikuni was ignoring his cries of agony and continued his assault, stabbing  into reopened wounds and bruises without care. Tsurugi’s already-aching limbs were screaming in protest as he twisted and his hips bucked into the air. One hand continued to try and pry the fingers from his mouth while the other reached up and attempted to claw Mikuni’s face - both actions gained little result.

“Such a bad mouth. You don’t seem to realise the situation you’re in,” Mikuni murmured. A slight smile pulled at the corner of his mouth when he thrust his forefinger into a bloody tear below the other man’s pectoral. When he pulled it back, Tsurugi’s blood stained his fingertip. Slowly, he curled his hand into a fist. “I’m not gonna kill you.”

Mikuni grinned and brought his clenched fist down onto Tsurugi’s chest. It wasn’t hard enough to cause any permanent damage, but the force was more than enough to knock the wind out of the smaller man and send bile shooting up his esophagus. Tsurugi’s muffled scream was more of a gurgle this time and he could feel saliva drenching his palm. Mikuni looked away from the bloodied torso back at the man’s face and was pleased to see that his face had flushed red and tears were freely streaming down his cheeks. He’d barely needed to use any strength to have Tsurugi sobbing like a child beneath him. The pain in the man’s yellow eyes was satisfying and Mikuni felt a rush of anger run through him. 

“But you might wish you were dead,” he continued, finally removing his hand from the agent’s mouth. His lips were trembling, his chin coated in a mix of saliva and blood that had drooled out amidst his screams. “There’s not a single ounce of goodness left in you, is there?”

“Don’t-” Tsurugi groaned. He didn’t want to hear such threats from his former friend. “Stop it-”

The blonde tilted his head to one side and gave him a dark scowl. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you handsomely for this, you _worthless_ piece of shit.”

Mikuni unclenched his fist and laid it flat against the man’s chest, softly skimming his fingers over the skin beneath. A black snake unfurled from around Mikuni’s neck and slithered up behind his ear, watching the scene. 

 

_ “What are you doing, Mikuni? _ ” it whispered, quietly in the Eve’s ear. “ _ You're going too far. _ ” 

 

“Shut up,” he murmured back, flicking the snake’s nose with his free hand. His other hand pressed down lightly, right over the largest burn on his ribs and continued to apply pressure until Tsurugi’s watery eyes widened. The agent raised a limp hand and placed it over Mikuni’s.

“Stop,” he croaked, ashamed by the way his voice was wavering.

“Why should I?” Mikuni snapped, rage finally seeping into his voice. “When have you ever shown any mercy? Never, right? Not when the money was  _ so good _ .”

 

“ _ Mikuni! _ ” the snake hissed. “ _ You're killing him. _ ”

Tsurugi shrieked and screwed his eyes shut when he felt the weight of Mikuni’s hand press deeper into his body. He had never known pain like this, even being stabbed was more bearable. His mind was hazy from the physical torment but he tried to think of something, anything, that would get the blonde off of him before he damaged him irreparably. Apologise, he told himself, just apologise, he didn’t have to mean it. 

“Stop, please,” he sobbed, letting the hand that had been trying to remove Mikuni’s crushing hand flop beside him. “Please, Mikuni, I’m sorry. Just stop, agh - please!  _ Please _ !”

The blonde looked down at him, his eyes wild and his teeth bared, but the pressure didn’t grow any stronger. After a moment, the man let out a deep breath and removed his hand from Tsurugi’s body. The agent was still weeping, his face scrunched up, red and ugly. There was diluted blood and spit all over his face and on his collarbone where it had dripped from his mouth. There was more on his torso - thicker, brighter stuff that was oozing from the places the blonde had dug his fingers into. Mikuni watched him closely as he wiped his chin with the back of his hand, then scrubbed the tears away. Tsurugi glared at him and tried to calm the small sobs that caused his chest to tremble.

 

“Why are you d-doing this?” he asked, through bloodied lips. 

 

“Because I hate you,” Mikuni leaned back against the desk chair and removed a cigarette from the packet in his trouser pocket. The black snake slithered back around his neck, head resting on a thick vein running down his throat. He was so angry, he needed to calm down before he completely lost control of himself - smoking usually helped. Losing control was unacceptable to a rational, collected tactician like Mikuni. He placed the cigarette in his mouth and lit the end, looking down at the agent with distaste. “Why didn’t you stop me? You could have quite easily. You could have taken Touma down too, if you wanted t-”

He paused, then ran a hand through his hair and took a long drag of his cigarette. Tsurugi smirked and shifted slightly on the bed to make himself more comfortable, which was difficult considering the amount of pain he was in.

 

“Surely you’re not worried for my well-being, Miku?” he rasped. 

 

Mikuni shrugged and took another drag of his cigarette. His gaze rested on the agent’s torso, where seeping wounds were beginning to crust. Now that he had calmed down, the sight of all the blood was making him feel sick. He sighed, smoke pluming from between his lips.

 

“Of course I am, you idiot,” he mumbled, inhaling another drag of smoke. Tsurugi’s eyes widened in surprise. “I told you I came to check up on you, didn’t I?”

 

“Then why the fuck did you nearly choke me to death earlier?” he asked, bluntly. 

 

“Because it seems violence is the only way to get through that thick skull o’ yours,” Mikuni answered, scowling. “I asked you to stop before lashin’ out, didn’t I? Plus, you attacked Jeje first.”

 

“Whatever,” he grumbled, sitting upright. Pain shot across his torso, bad enough to make him shudder. “Poking your fingers into my wounds doesn’t seem too caring either.”

 

“You pissed me off. Plus, you pointed a knife in my face,” Mikuni stared at him for a moment, smoke dripping from between his lips. He paused momentarily before continuing, holding the other man’s gaze. “And I wanted to see if you would fight back when we were alone.”

 

“Always the secondary motive, eh Miku?” Tsuguri snorted, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He clutched the side of his chest, wincing. “Well, this has been such a lovely reunion but please get the  _ fuck  _ outta my room. I’m tired.”

 

“Why didn't you?” the blonde said, raising a brow. The two men sat opposite one another, seating position mirrored. “Why do you let other people push you around and tell you what to do? I don't get it.” 

 

Tsurugi glared at him for a moment, then the expression relaxed into false cheeriness. “Of course you don't, you little brat.  _ This  _ is all I know. I grew up here, I live here, I work here and I'll die here unless I can afford to get out.”

 

Mikuni frowned. “Afford to?” 

 

“Touma found me when I was just a cute little baby,” he chuckled. A hint of his usual mania was starting to seep into his voice. “Gave me a life. He bought me, essentially. He won't let me- I mean, it wouldn't be fair for me to leave without paying him back.”  

 

“And how much is that?” the other man asked, flicking ash carelessly onto the carpet. 

 

Tsurugi laughed lightly but his fingers clenched his bedsheets tightly. “Well, whenever Touma decides the debt is repaid, of course!”

 

Mikuni took in a deep drag of his cigarette before crushing the still-smoking end beneath his boot. An unhappy expression was set on his face, his mouth in a hard line. 

 

“You're an idiot,” he stated, bluntly. 

 

The agent’s smile dropped. He sighed and reached under his pillow to retrieve his pajama shirt, which he hastily pulled over his aching torso. The material chafed against the burns and the open sores but he didn't care as long as Mikuni wasn't staring directly at them anymore. 

 

“Oh yeah?” he answered, irritably. “How so?” 

 

Mikuni snorted derisively and stood, jamming his hands into his pockets. “That debt will never be repaid.” 

 

“Touma said-” 

 

“Touma says a lot of things - most of them bullshit,” the blonde growled. “You're a bigger fool than I thought if you think he's ever going to let his  _ Suicide Ace _ go.”

 

Tsurugi grew quiet and his thin body seemed to slump in on itself. His head hung low, fringe covering his downcast eyes, but Mikuni could still see his trembling lips. For a moment he thought the agent would cry, but then a frantic smile spread across his face and his head lifted to show bulging, manic eyes. 

 

“You're wrong, Miku,” he replied, in a too-high sing song voice. “Touma always knows what's best.”

 

Mikuni wrinkled his nose in disgust. “You're too far gone, aren't you? What’s the point?” 

 

He couldn’t help Tsurugi if the other man had no desire for it. Maybe it was too late, maybe Touma had broken the man for good. An odd ache started to burn in Mikuni’s chest so he turned away and as he started to leave he felt something catch his sleeve. He span back around to see Tsurugi sprawled across his bed, fingers clasping the cuff of his jumper tightly. The smaller man was trembling again and Mikuni couldn't see his face well enough to tell if he was giggling or crying. 

 

“ _ No _ ,” the agent ground out, voice hoarse as if he had been shouting for hours on end. “I'm not. Please don't go.” 

 

Mikuni blinked, uncertain of what to do. The pathetic, broken thing in front of him was a murderer, a creature who would torture for money, a scumbag who shouldn't be worth his time. But he was also Tsurugi, a man who have never been given a chance or been allowed to think for himself. Mikuni didn't care for many people in this world, he didn't find them that interesting. But watching Tsurugi reaching out here, telling him that he wasn't irreparable - something in that made Mikuni turn around and sit beside him on the bed. The agent didn't say anything else, he just sat limply beside the other man, staring at the floor. 

 

An idea started to form in Mikuni’s head, something that would alter the situation drastically enough that it would provide a chance, a small chance for the agent to change. Something that could take him away from C3, away from his cage and Touma and all the hurt. It was a long shot, but Mikuni was sure he could hit the target. He drew the lines and connected the dots in his head until he had a vague outline of a plan. The only question mark hovering over the idea was how Tsurugi would react, but he could deal with that later. 

 

“You're not gonna die here,” he stated. 

 

“No?” the agent replied, tiredly. “What, you gonna take me outside and kill me yourself?” 

 

The blonde chuckled. “Yeah. Sounds like fun.”

 

They sat in silence long enough for Mikuni to inhale another cigarette, at which point Tsurugi raised his head and let out an exhausted sigh. The other man turned his head to look at him and was surprised by the expression on his face. He looked weary, but the creases around his brows and mouth had eased. Though he wasn't smiling, his eyes were softer than they had been and the previously tense muscles around his neck had relaxed. Mikuni had never seen him look so outwardly normal, so human - it didn't sit well with the blonde as he knew how dangerous the agent could be. It was easy to be fooled by the man’s usually chirpy, almost manic, exterior although Mikuni himself had never fallen for it. Tsurugi wore so many different faces it was hard to tell which one was real. He wondered if Tsurugi himself knew. 

 

“I need to sleep,” the agent said, quietly. He looked up at Mikuni and exhaustion was obvious from the way his eyelids drooped and his shoulders slumped. “So if we could save our death-match for another day, that would be swell.” 

 

“Sure,” Mikuni replied, smirking. “We’ll wait ‘till you're all healed up, wouldn't be fair otherwise.”

 

Tsurugi’s lips quirked to one side in amusement. “Do you want to stay?” 

 

“I-”

 

“Will you stay?” he asked, swallowing thickly. 

 

The blonde sighed through his nostrils and ran a hand through his hair. Beneath the sigh, a dark smirk was forming on his face - he was glad Tsurugi had suggested that, it would make the first part of his plan a lot easier. “I guess. Just for tonight.”

 

“It’s gonna cost ya,” Tsurugi added. Mikuni glared at the agent, who chuckled darkly to himself and held up his hands in response. “I kid, I kid.” 

 

“Asshole,” he grumbled, kicking off his boots. He glanced down at the other man’s torso and frowned. There was blood seeping through the nightshirt. “You’re bleeding everywhere - you should shower again and let me patch them up properly.” 

 

“Yes, Miku,” he answered, obediently. The agent got to his feet and began to head toward the bathroom when Mikuni called out to him. 

 

“Do the burns still hurt?” he asked. 

 

When Tsurugi turned back, Mikuni was lounging on the bed, the black snake coiled around his forearm. Both were looking at him curiously. He nodded and gave them a small smile. 

 

“Yeah, they still hurt.” 

 

The blonde tilted his head to one side. “If you could stop them from hurting, if you had the chance to leave C3 and Touma and get your own life, would you take it?” 

 

Tsurugi seemed to contemplate the question for a long time, his expression contorting through a number of different emotions before he finally nodded, looking unusually peaceful. “Yes. In these very brief moments of clarity, I would take it. I can’t promise what my answer would be in the morning.” 

 

Mikuni smiled as the other man turned away and disappeared into the bathroom. He glanced down at the snake squeezing his wrist and raised a brow.

 

“What?” he asked, smile descending into an unpleasant grin. 

 

“ _ Are you serious? _ ”

 

“About what, Jeje?” he chuckled, clambering to his feet. He stripped off his jumper and threw it to the floor. 

 

_ “I know what you're thinking, Mikuni. Are you sure it’s a good idea?” _

 

Mikuni laughed and crouched, so that he could retrieve the discarded knife from under the desk. He stood again and waited by the doorway until he could hear the sound of the shower. 

 

“Your lack of faith in my intelligence is wounding,” he said, sarcastically. “Of course it’s a good idea - _ I  _ thought of it.”

 

“ _ I think you’re an idiot. There’s no savin’ someone like him, _ ” Jeje replied. The snake tightened around Mikuni’s wrist as the blonde pulled off his socks and rolled up the cuffs of his jeans.

 

He bopped the animal’s head and tutted. “Now now, Jeje. You gonna do what I say or am I gonna have to force you? Because as your Eve, I can do that.”

 

“ _ Whatever, just get on with it. _ ”

 

Mikuni snickered under his breath as he moved out of the bedroom and padded quietly down the corridor. Tsurugi had left the bathroom door wide open - he was too trusting of his old friend. Silently, he entered the steam-clouded room and stared at the shadow of the agent through the shower curtain from the doorway. He raised his arm and nodded at the snake, pressing a finger to his smirking lips. His footsteps couldn’t be heard over the noise of the running water and he could not be seen through the thin curtain or the haze of steam. Mikuni took in a deep breath and cast away any doubts - this was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? 

 

He pulled back the shower curtain in one swift action and threw the snake backward onto the tiled floor. When it landed, it contorted and started to take its vampire form. Jeje’s tall figure loomed over his Eve, watching with narrowed eyes as the human lunged forward and grabbed the C3 agent’s wet hair. Mikuni jerked him back so he collided with his chest and, before Tsurugi had time to twist his naked body around, he raised the knife and sliced it deeply across his throat. The agent let out a vile gurgle and thick, dark blood started to spew viciously from the wound. As he thrashed about, held in place only by the strength of Mikuni’s arms, bright scarlet splattered across the shower cubicle and over his body. Slowly, as he bled out, his squirming grew weaker until finally his knees buckled and he slumped down onto his knees. Mikuni held the other man’s torso upright by keeping his arms folded beneath his armpits and jerked his body so that his head lolled backwards against his stomach. The blonde swallowed thickly, trying to stay calm in the face of the disturbing images and sounds in front of him - things he had caused. Tsurugi’s yellow eyes were wide with shock and his mouth hung slack as if he were trying to speak. The blonde lowered himself down onto his knees but remained behind Tsurugi, who collapsed further onto his backside, his legs splaying out uncomfortably at his sides. One arm wound around the agent’s waist to keep him steady whilst the other gently petted his hair. 

 

“It’s okay,” Mikuni soothed, half to the dying man, half to himself. “Relax.”

 

Tsurugi made a noise, a horrid wet hack that sent blood spraying out of his mouth. His vision was fading, he couldn’t feel his arms - he was dying. Somewhere above him he could hear Mikuni’s voice, he could feel his warm, bare skin against his back. He wanted to tell the other man that  _ this wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, he didn’t want to die like this, he didn’t want to die here,  _ but his vocal chords were severed and he couldn’t push the words out. Everything around him was fading - no, _ he _ was fading, everything else would remain. He couldn’t feel his body, his vision was clouding with shadow and soon, he knew that his thoughts would end. With the last bit of life he possessed, he focused on Mikuni. The image of him, the smell and feel. He didn’t want to die, he really didn’t want to die. 

 

Mikuni watched, fascinated, as Tsurugi’s eyes glazed over and the last bit of colour drained from his face. He turned his head toward Jeje and motioned toward the dying man. The vampire stared down at the bizarre scene - his Eve and the agent, saturated in blood, so much blood. Mikuni was smirking, as usual, but his face was pale and his eyes wide. If Jeje didn’t know any better he would have said he was nervous. 

 

“C’mon Jeje,” he ordered. He pulled Tsurugi’s head back and hooked a finger around his lower jaw so that he could open his mouth. “Feedin’ time.”

 

“You owe me for this,” Jeje replied, coldly. He crouched next to his Eve and dug one of his fangs into his palm, dragging it quickly over the skin. Blood pooled quickly in his cupped hand. 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Mikuni chuckled. He grabbed his Servamp’s wrist and shoved his hand over the agent’s open lips so that the vampire’s blood slid into his mouth. Jeje tensed but the blonde held fast. He was stronger than he looked, it was easy to underestimate him judging on appearance alone. The vampire knew better than to trust that handsome, lop-sided grin and casual, easy-going slouch - Mikuni was a dangerous and deeply unpleasant individual. “I’ll let you drink my blood later, okay?”

 

“It’s always ‘later’ with you,” he growled, scowling beneath the mask that hid his face. Mikuni released his hand and he drew it back quickly, running his tongue over the open wound so that it would heal quicker. He peered down at Tsurugi curiously, then turned away from the both of them and walked out of the bathroom. “I’m not cleaning this up. His blood smells like shit.”

 

Mikuni looked back at the dead man in his arms and sighed. Gently, he lowered the body down so that it was flat on the tiled bathroom floor. He sat down by the shower and leaned back against the wall, shivering when his bare skin hit the cold surface. There was blood  _ everywhere _ , all over the shower walls, pooling on the ground, staining their skin. Mikuni swallowed, nauseated by the sight and the feeling of the sticky liquid sinking through his jeans. He grimaced and stretched his legs out in front of him. Cleaning up could wait a minute, he needed to calm down first. He wasn’t worried about being discovered, everyone else was asleep, the door was locked and it wasn’t like anyone would come to check on Tsurugi anyway. 

 

“Jeje!” he called, brows furrowing. “Bring me my box of cigarettes.” 

 

“Get them yourself,” came the irritated voice of his Servamp.

 

The blonde smirked and rested his head back against the wall. Slowly, he closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of the gory scene playing over and over in his head. There was nothing he could do now but wait for Tsurugi to wake up. After that - well, only time would tell. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. What you've done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy!

Tsurugi Kamiya was dreaming. Through the fog, there was a wailing of a little boy with no teeth, the endless drone of a heartbeat, a puddle of crimson pooling around his feet. There was a monster prowling around the edges of the dream, its sharp teeth bared, mouth open and dripping. There was pain, sharp and real, searing across his body and under his skin. His heart pumped ice through his veins, an intense pain he would have killed to extinguish. The feeling immobilized him and grew until he prayed to God that he would die. But he lingered there, on the brink of death, the taste of metal on his lips, until his heart jerked once - twice -

Three times. Then again. And then it stopped. The taste of the blood in his mouth began to fade.

He felt what seemed to be cool hands touch his face, then his neck, warming his skin. The drone and the wails ceased, now all he could was a painfully high-pitched tone. Fingertips caressed the gash across his neck, knitting it back together with utter precision. More hands settled over the burns on his torso, alleviating his pain. A pleasant chill crawled over his skin and slowly he began to feel something else - the weight of his body, the soft surface beneath his back, the slight breeze from the open window. Tsurugi Kamiya began to feel alive. He longed to see who was touching him, but found himself still unable to open his eyes. Instead, there was a soft, dark voice at his ear and the gentle brush of feather-light hair against his cheek.

_ "You awake yet, scumbag?" _

He never thought he would be happy to hear the grating, arrogant tone of Mikuni Alicein again but in that moment, he was a deafening, terrible angel. The cool hands pressed roughly into him and a sudden stab of pain in the centre of his chest shocked him. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, cold and stark. The small man let out a harsh screech and his eyes flew open. Cool evening air filled his lungs and caused goosebumps to erupt across his skin. His eyes darted from side to side as he panicked, his body still too exhausted and pained to move. The shock forced him into unconsciousness and his eyes fluttered shut again. But his chest started to rise and fall and his parted lips went slack as air whistled through them. His heart didn’t beat again but Tsurugi was undoubtedly  _ alive.  _

 

-0- 

 

_ He couldn’t blame anyone for what he did.  _

 

_ “Sit down.” _

 

_ Tsurugi stared blankly at the vice-president who was sitting behind his desk, casually smoking as if nothing had happened. For the first time in his life, he wanted to disobey the man. He didn’t want to sit down, he wanted to reach across the table and stab the lit cigarette into the man’s eyes. He wanted to rip out the tongue that told him to ignore the alarm.  _

 

_ “Did you let the subclass out?” Tsurugi asked, voice strained. The image of Mikuni’s hate-filled glare passed through his mind. If he could blame Touma, maybe Mikuni would listen, maybe he would come back. “It was you, wasn’t it? They’re dead because of you.” _

 

_ Touma released a plume of smoke from his mouth, lips drawing down into a frown. “Death is the Devil’s work.” _

 

_ The agent shook his head in disbelief. “That’s not an answer.” _

 

_ “I did not kill members of my own team,” Touma said, sternly. He took another drag of his cigarette and tapped off the ash. “The subclass killed them.” _

 

_ “You told me to ignore the alarm!” he exclaimed, clenching a fist at his side. “Jun’s wife-” _

 

_ “You didn’t have to listen to me, did you Tsurugi?” Touma replied, smoothly. A dark smile spread over his face from behind the smoke. “That was your decision.”  _

 

_ The agent froze, eyes widening at the accusation. “No, that’s - that’s not-” _

 

_ “I gave the order. It was your choice to follow it. It’s always been your choice,” the vice president stated. He reached into his drawer and threw a stack of bills at the agent, who flinched backward. “There’s your reward, as promised.” _

 

_ “What?” Tsurugi asked, weakly.  _

 

_ Touma smirked and pushed the money closer to the edge of his desk. “Your blood money.” _

 

_ Tsurugi shook his head furiously and moved closer so that he could slam his fists down on the table on either side of the bills. “No! This is not what I signed up for-” _

 

_ “You must have heard them screaming,” Touma interrupted. The first signs of anger were starting to twitch on his usually calm face. “The guard station is right at the end of that corridor.” _

 

_ “I-” he began. It felt as if a bucket of ice had been poured over his head. His head drooped and as he stared at the money he felt sickness twist his stomach. “No, I didn’t-” _

 

_ “Don’t lie,” the older man chuckled. He leaned forward and placed a finger under Tsurugi’s chin. Forcefully, he pushed his head up and tutted when he saw tears in his eyes. “I’m very pleased that you followed my orders.”  _

 

_ “Jun’s wife is dead because of this,” Tsurugi mumbled, shaking his head back and forth. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe but all he could see behind his eyelids was Jun screaming with his arms around the woman’s bloody corpse and Takuto’s tiny hands circling his thumb. “He’s just had a kid-” _

 

_ “Tsurugi-” _

 

_ “Why?” he asked, voice cracking with grief. “Why did you want this?” _

 

_ Touma leaned back, hand dropping down to the desk. He tilted his head to one side and observed the other man for a moment before giving a sigh. “You don’t need to know the details. But let’s just say certain members of our organisation need to be kept in line. They need to be reminded that the vampires are the enemy.” _

 

_ Tsurugi grit his teeth together in anger. “Vampires are the enemy, right? Not C3, not the higher-ups, not yo-” _

 

_ A crystal glass on the sideboard behind Touma exploded noisily and shards burst across the floor. The vice president raised a brow and calmly stubbed his cigarette out. The agent drew in a number of deep breaths, trying to calm himself before his magic spiralled out of control.  _

 

_ Touma eyed him carefully, smile falling into a frown. “Are you finished?” _

 

_ “Yes,” he breathed, hands trembling. He leaned away from the desk and looked away from the vice president, uncertain of what to say. The scars on his back felt as if they were burning again, so he didn’t press further.  _

 

_ “I will let this little outburst go, considering the circumstances,” the older man said, brows knitting together. “I trust you know not to mention any of this to your teammates.” _

 

_ “Yes, Touma,” Tsurugi replied, quietly. He reached forward and picked up the wad of cash. When he looked back at the vice president, his eyes were blank. “Thank you.” _

 

_ He turned away from the older man, sucking in hasty breaths. Touma chuckled darkly behind him. Tsurugi felt bile stinging his throat - he needed to get out, away from this.  _

 

_ “You just keep on burning bridges before they’re built, don’t you?” his master called, as he shut the door.  _

 

-0- 

 

It had been six hours since Mikuni slit the agent’s throat. After cleaning up the bathroom - which Jeje had been forced into helping with - and clothing the C3 agent, the blonde had sat for a while, staring into space. After half an hour, he jumped up and declared that they were going home. Jeje didn’t bother arguing at that point, nothing would change the human’s mind when he was dead set, so he just let Mikuni direct him. They walked out of C3, unnoticed, undisturbed. Mikuni made everything look easy. He scoffed when Jeje suggested they would be seen on the CCTV and replied that he would have that ‘taken care of’. The Servamp didn’t question him, nor did he doubt him, Mikuni had elite connections across the globe who were willing to go to great lengths for him. The blonde called a private car to take them back to his apartment in the centre of the city, a black cab who wouldn’t question the blood on their clothes and lifeless man bundled into the boot. 

 

“C3 won’t come lookin’ here,” he stated, watching the lights outside the window pass by. “We’ll keep him inside for a bit until we can assess what kinda subclass he’s become.”

 

Jeje didn’t say anything. He’d had subclasses before but they were either dead or somewhere else in the world. He preferred being alone. Mikuni never seemed too fussed about creating any subclasses either, Jeje suspected that was due to the man’s overconfidence in himself - he didn’t need any extra assistance.

 

Mikuni’s home was a beautiful place, only fitting for a man of his calibre. The furthest wall was entirely made of glass, giving a beautiful view of a sparkling city below. He made sure to have blackout blinds installed, for Jeje’s sake. The space was open plan, with a well-equipped, stainless steel kitchen to the right and a large seating area occupied by squishy leather couches to the left. A rectangular dinner table was placed in the center of the room so that guests could fully admire the expansive view of the city outside. The colour scheme stuck to steely grays and rich blues and the surfaces seemed to be devoid of any personal touches. It was almost as if he were living in a showroom. The only signs that this was Mikuni's penthouse were the pictures of his brother and a few dolls on the mantle, the ashtrays, the stacks of papers and half-empty bottles of wine on the dining room table.

The blonde was sat on the sofa near the vast window, sipping his third glass of wine. He took another shower and changed his outfit as soon as he arrived home, now clothed in a white t-shirt and sweatpants. Mikuni had grown used to the heated climate of oversea tropics and made sure that his house was warm enough to walk around naked if he so desired. A smoking cigarette hung out of one corner of his mouth, his hands preoccupied by the laptop in front of him. It probably wasn’t wise to be writing out emails whilst drinking, but he didn’t care all that much - they would be well written regardless. Mikuni didn’t have much of a social life, so he often found himself holed up in his house in the evenings, sitting in silence with Jeje. It meant that he got a lot of work done, buying and selling information alongside items of interest, but on the odd occasion he did find himself getting lonely. His Servamp wasn’t much of a talker, so sometimes he would go out to a local bar and pick up some pretty or handsome thing to play with for the evening. They were never satisfying, never quite a delightful as he wanted them to be. They were never the one person he wanted them to be.

He ran a hand through his hair and took a long drag of his cigarette before tapping the ash into a tray on the table. The image of his Tsurugi’s pained eyes lingered in his mind. Perhaps he had gone too far but there was no going back at this point. Mikuni sighed to himself - he wasn’t certain when their relationship became so hideously twisted, when it moved from dislike to murderous intent. In their younger years they were very close, he liked being around him, he always wanted his attention. It was only as they grew that things changed, when Tsurugi became obsessed with money and the vice president. Mikuni’s lip curled as he let out another plume of smoke. He hated that man, the one who had broken Tsurugi and sent his mind into the gutter. 

 

At first he blamed everything on Touma but after the death of their team-mates, after the many subclasses and humans Tsurugi murdered for the sake of a stack of bills, Mikuni realised that the vice president was not entirely to blame. Tsurugi had to shoulder the majority of the sin. It was that realisation that forced his decision to get away from the organisation that housed him for years, from the people he had grown up with. Leaving C3 hurt, but so did watching his friend - _lover_ \- turn into a murdering, money-hungry beast. Tsurugi slipped away with every new scar, every sore that Mikuni would trace gently with his fingers when they slept next to one another at night. He felt jealousy burn inside him when he thought of Touma hurting him. The blonde wanted to own Tsurugi, he was the only one good enough for him, the only one and he would make him see, even if _he_ had to hurt him to make him see-

 

_ “Don’t lose control of yourself,”  _ the black snake by his ear hissed. 

 

Mikuni let out a sigh and a cloud of smoke dissipated in the air. Realistically, he knew Tsurugi wouldn’t react positively to being turned into a subclass, he would probably despise the blonde even more now. He shook the thought away and stabbed his cigarette out into the ashtray on the table. This was the right thing to do, he reassured himself, Tsurugi needed something drastic to pull him out of C3, away from Touma. The man swallowed another gulp of wine and glanced over at the lifeless body on the sofa opposite. 

 

It was amazing what vampire blood could do when forced into a human body. The majority of the fresh burns had healed over, as had the deep cut across his throat. There was no trace of them at all and even the older scars were beginning to fade to a shade slightly lighter than his normal skin tone. 

 

“Will they disappear altogether?” Mikuni asked, tilting his head to one side so that the black snake could slither down his arm. It tightened around his wrist. 

 

“ _ Maybe over time, _ ” Jeje replied, curling up the stem of the wine glass. “ _ Once he starts feeding. _ ”

 

“Do any of your subclasses have special abilities?” he said, stroking the snake’s head with his forefinger. “Can they go in the sun? Tsubaki’s can and from what little I’ve seen they have some extraordinary powers.”

 

The snake turned to look at him and his tongue slithered quickly in and out of his mouth. “ _ It’s hard to tell. We’ll have to wait and see. _ ”

 

“Hmm,” he mused, taking a sip of his drink. “He’s gonna kill me. He hates vampires.”

 

“ _ Only because he’s paid to hate them, _ ” Jeje answered. “ _ Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how he’ll react. _ ”

 

Mikuni smiled and lowered his glass onto the table. Jeje slithered down with it and watched quietly as the blonde stood and cross the room so that he was standing in front of Tsurugi’s body. He placed his hands into his pockets and tilted his head to one side, a wry smile still pulling at his lips. 

 

“Sure will,” he agreed. “If he survives.”

  
  
  
  



	3. Line them up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long - enjoy!

Tsurugi jerked awake, letting out a dry, throaty gasp as he fisted the sheet that had been carelessly thrown over him. His sweat-slick body protested at the sudden movement and he grit his teeth as pain shot through his limbs. It was a dull ache, one that covered his entire body - he felt as if he’d been dropped from a great height onto concrete. With a shudder, he took in a deep breath and tried to sit upright. He propped himself up with his palms and blinked hard, trying to clear the stars blinding his vision. Dizziness caused his stomach to twist and as he stood up from the sofa he had been laying on, bile rose up his throat and he retched violently. He bent at the waist and wrapped one of his arms around his stomach while the other held tightly onto the sofa cushions. The man continued dry-heaving until his knees buckled underneath him and he crashed onto all-fours. At first, nothing came up but the gagging wouldn’t stop and eventually he felt something rushing up his esophagus. In one harsh retch, blood burst out of his mouth and splattered onto the wooden floor beneath him. Tsurugi groaned, gargling slightly on the thick liquid that was clinging to his tonsils. He remained on his hands and knees until the retching stopped and tried to calm himself by taking in a number of deep breaths. It was only when he felt more at peace that he felt the presence of someone standing over him.  

 

“I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your filth off my floor.”

 

Tsurugi smirked, still staring at the floor. He spat a wad of blood intentionally out and then turned his head to the side. Mikuni was stood close by his side, hands in the pockets of his mustard-coloured cotton dressing gown. The agent grunted and moved so that he could place his back against the bottom of the sofa and let his legs sprawl out in front of him. His body was still aching terribly but he kept his muscles tense, just in case Mikuni made a sudden movement. 

 

“Where am I?” he croaked, voice rasping through his dry throat as a bare whisper. “What happened?”

 

“We’re at my house,” Mikuni raised a brow. “You don’t remember?”

 

Tsurugi started to shake his head but paused when a surge of memories rushed back to him.  _ A knife at his throat, the taste of blood, fuck, so much blood and ‘ “It’s okay. Relax.” _ \- his eyes widened and he glanced up at Mikuni. A dark scowl stretched across his face. 

 

“You tried to kill me,” he hissed, angrily. 

 

The blond grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “Oh Tsurugi, when have I ever done things by half?”

 

“Well, I’m still here aren’t I?” Tsurugi replied, watching the other man closely as he waltzed around the coffee table and sat on the sofa opposite him. Mikuni’s smile turned unpleasant and he raised a brow. “If I’m still here you clearly failed.”

 

“I don’t fail,” Mikuni said, coldly. He raised his arms and draped them over the back of the sofa. The black snake he was never seen without slithered out from behind his neck and moved to curl around his collarbone. “It’s not in my nature. I killed you.”

 

Tsurugi frowned, watching the animal with interest, until the meaning of Mikuni’s words sunk in. He felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head and he tensed up. Slowly, he raised a hand and pressed two fingers against his throat. For a couple of seconds he was still then suddenly he jerked awkwardly in position and moved his hand to his chest. 

 

“No, no, no-”

 

“Calm down, Tsurugi,” Mikuni ordered, sternly. The brunet was pressing frantically against various points of pulse around his body and growing more disturbed every second. 

 

“What the fuck has happened to me?” he snarled, pushing himself onto his knees. Swallowing thickly, he pressed his thumbs up against his canines - only to find two sharp, unfamiliar fangs protruding from his gums. The agent shrieked loudly and slammed both his fists onto coffee table. He raised himself up off the floor and stood on the table, so that he could lunge toward Mikuni. The blond slid across the sofa before the other man could reach him, causing Tsurugi to crash head-first into the pillows at his side. 

 

Tsurugi scrambled round, hissing as pain shot across his torso, and reached out a hand. Mikuni caught his wrist and twisted it deftly, making the brunet to cry out. He kept twisting until Tsurugi was forced off the sofa and onto his knees at his feet. 

 

“You did this!” the agent shouted, swinging his free hand up. Mikuni was too slow to miss that movement and received a nasty punch to the cheek, which made him jerk backward and release Tsurugi’s wrist. Immediately, the brunet darted up and straddled Mikuni’s hips on the sofa. With one hand he pinned the blond to the back of the cushions by his throat, while the other hovered over his face. He split two fingers and placed them a few inches above Mikuni’s eyes, making the threat quite clear. “Move and I’ll fucking blind you, Kuni.”

 

The blond laughed lightly but Tsurugi could see that his jaw was clenched tightly. “Always so rough with me.”

 

“Start talking,” the agent snapped, thoroughly pissed off. He was tired of Mikuni’s games at this stage and was in no mood to humour his former partner. “Tell me what the fuck has happened to me.”

 

“I think you’re smart enough to work that o-” he began. He paused when the fingers above his eyes moved slightly closer. When he glanced up at Tsurugi’s face he saw nothing but anger behind his eyes. “Okay, okay. Well, you told me that you weren’t too far gone. You begged me not to leave.”

 

“That’s-”

 

The blond growled under his breath to silence Tsurugi. “You said that you would take the chance to get out of C3 if one were presented. However, you also said that you might change your mind on that, so I thought - why not strike while the iron is hot?”

 

Tsurugi shook his head in disbelief and ran his tongue over the front of one of his fangs. “So you-”

 

“Turned you into one of Jeje’s subclasses, yes,” Mikuni continued, impatiently. “Meant we could get you out without setting off any sensors - for all they know only one living being exited the building that night.”

 

“But, why?” Tsurugi exclaimed, baring his teeth. He hated the way he couldn’t feel the familiar, steady beat of his heart in his chest and the cold chill that seemed to run beneath his skin. “Why didn’t you just leave me there?”

 

“You asked for help  _ so  _ cutely, how could I refuse?” Mikuni tilted his head to one side. “And now that you’re a subclass you can’t go back, can you? You’ve seen what C3 do to your kind. Do you really think they’d put your pitiful  _ friendship  _ above their goals?”

  
  


The agent let his head fall forward onto Mikuni’s shoulder so that he could shield his ashamed face from the other man. Why was this happening to him, he thought. Everything he grew up with, everything he knew had been ripped away - was that what he wanted? Or had he just been so infatuated with Mikuni that he would have said anything to please him? The brunet groaned and raised his head to look at the blond. The hand above his eyes dropped down to the side of his head, much to Mikuni’s relief.

 

“They wouldn’t do that to me,” he said, weakly. 

 

“Not your partners, maybe,” Mikuni answered. His smile widened and he held Tsurugi’s gaze for a moment. His hazel eyes were dark, clouded with some emotion the agent couldn’t read at first. “But do you really think Touma will want to continue  _ fucking  _ some filthy vampire?”

 

Tsurugi felt anger surge through him and he lunged forward without hesitation so that he could dig his fangs deep into Mikuni’s throat. The vicious canines tore easily into the human’s flesh and punctured the vein that lay beneath the skin. Tsurugi’s mind was whirring - attacking Mikuni’s throat had come to him almost naturally, it hadn’t been a conscious decision. The man’s blood started to pool in his mouth and the vampire groaned at the taste. It was divine, absolute perfection, it felt as if it were burning his ice-cold insides as it slipped down into his stomach. When the blond began to struggle, he laced his fingers through his hair and held it tight enough to hold him still. 

 

“Ts-Tsurugi,” Mikuni grunted, clawing at the other man’s chest. “Get off, that hurts.”

 

The vampire ripped his fangs out of the blond’s neck, intentionally tearing the skin to cause him more discomfort. Mikuni hissed and clapped his hand over the puncture marks as Tsurugi sat back on his knees, staring hungrily at him. He licked the blood off his bottom lip and rolled it around his mouth, savouring the flavour. The blond growled angrily and tried to lean forward but soon found himself again pinned back against the back of the sofa by his throat. Tsurugi’s newfound strength was proving to be a miscalculation, he thought, he should have tied him down. 

 

“It’s meant to hurt, Kuni,” Tsurugi cooed, smirking unpleasantly. He tightened his hand around Mikuni’s neck and chuckled at the way his hazel eyes bulged in panic. It was odd to see his old partner lose control - he liked it. He liked it  _ a lot _ . “And for the record, Touma never-”

 

“Oh come on,” Mikuni wheezed, his voice straining under the weight of Tsurugi’s hand. “What kind of oblivious idiot do you take me for? You’re so  _ obvious _ .”

 

“Shut up!” he snarled, scowling. “There was nothing like  _ that  _ between us.”

 

“As if. You could barely stop yourself from drooling every time he entered the ro-”

 

Tsurugi pressed down harder on the blond’s windpipe for another few seconds, just long enough for Mikuni’s face to begin to turn purple, then he released it. It hit him then, what that look he couldn’t read earlier was - it was jealously.  _ Envy.  _ Mikuni dropped his head onto his chest and took in a few, much needed, breaths. The air rattled through his crushed throat, making an revolting sound. Now thoroughly angered, Mikuni rammed his hands against Tsurugi’s chest to try and push him off, but the brunet caught his wrists and moved them back against the sofa cushions. He twisted them slightly in the process, causing the blond to hiss in pain and writhe beneath the body that pinned his hips to the seat.  

 

“Get the fuck off of me, you piece of shit,” Mikuni snapped. He brought one knee up behind the vampire and slammed it hard into the base of his spine. The blow was dealt with enough force to make Tsurugi jerk upward and release his wrists, at which point Mikuni shoved his chest and sent him crashing to the floor. In one swift motion he raised an arm to let Jeje slither onto the floor and retrieved Abel from the pocket of his dressing gown. When Tsurugi twisted around so that he was facing the blond once more, he was met with the sight of the Servamp and his Eve looming over him.

 

“Stay down or I’ll use my lead,” Mikuni ordered, sternly. Tsurugi remained still, the memory of the last time he met ‘My Fair Lady’ clear in his mind. The blond sighed irritably and dropped back down onto the sofa. He looked down at his bloody hand and pressed his back over the puncture marks on his neck. He hated losing control. Tsurugi was so unpredictable it was hard to plan against his reactions. “Jeez, there’s blood everywhere.”

 

“Do you want me to heal it?” Jeje asked. The rumble in his voice gave away how hungry the smell of his Eve’s blood was making him - for the first time, Tsurugi could understand why he got so pissed off when Mikuni withheld it from him. 

 

The blond waved a hand at him. “No, just go fetch me the first aid kit.”

 

“Mikuni-”

 

“Do what I say,” Mikuni interrupted, flashing a glare at his Servamp. All joviality fell away from his face. “Or I’ll make you.”

 

Jeje didn’t argue, though in his head he was picturing tearing the man’s arms off. He turned on his heel and exited the room, movements followed closely by his Eve’s watchful gaze. When he was out of sight, Mikuni turned back to look at Tsurugi, who was still sitting on the floor where he fell. The brunet smirked and tilted his head gently to one side. 

 

“You know I think Envy suits you,” he snickered, leaning back against the heels of his palms. He stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Your resentment is so obvious.”

 

“Resentment?” Mikuni repeated, narrowing his eyes. 

 

“Uh huh. Resentment toward your brother, your Servamp, Touma,” he trailed off and his words broke into laughter. “So much resentment for things they have but you never can!”

 

The blond visibly tensed but a nasty smile worked its way onto his face. Years of strapping on a mask allowed him to hide the majority of his emotions but he found it so difficult around Tsurugi. The reason for this was most likely due to the fact Tsurugi wore the same false faces as he did. 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tsurugi,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “I have everything I want. And if I wanted something new I’d just go out and get it.”

 

“And what if it doesn’t want you back?” 

 

Mikuni paused and his brows knitted together. “I always get what I want.”

 

“Spoken like a true snotty rich kid,” Tsurugi chuckled, shaking his head. He went to move but halted when Mikuni raised Abel slightly. With a sneer, he sat back down and gave a melodramatic sigh. “You know I always hated that thing.”

 

“She has a name!”

 

“Whatever,” Tsurugi replied. His smirk dropped and he looked up at the blond unhappily. “You need to let me go, Kuni.”

 

“I can’t,” he answered. He focused on the brunet and seriousness spread over his features. When he chose to look like that, Tsurugi felt like he was being spoken to by a parent or someone older. Those were not the eyes of a man younger than him, a man only twenty three years old. “You wanted a chance to get out and well, I’m here to enforce that.”

 

“I don’t want you to do that, Kuni,” Tsurugi said, frowning. “I don’t need you to-”

 

“You said ‘ _ no, I’m not too far gone. Please don’t go -  stay _ ’. So that’s what I’m doing,” Mikuni retorted, crossing one leg over the other. As he did, his dressing gown slipped open slightly, revealing a slender, pale calve. Tsurugi didn’t doubt the movement was intentional, yet he couldn’t stop his gaze from trailing up the man’s leg, lingering on the smooth curve of the muscle beneath the skin. Mikuni laughed softly and rested Abel at his side. “Were you lying to me? Are you going to let me down  _ again _ , Tsurugi?”

 

_ Again.  _ The word rang clearly through his mind, bringing back every bad memory, every terrible thing he’d done to the people he loved, every burn and bruise and stab wound that littered his body. Every time Touma praised him. Every time he beat him senseless. He’d let Touma down before. And Yumi. And Jun, especially Jun. Mikuni was the one who never failed to see straight through him, through the cheery smiles and manic fits. Tsurugi dropped his head into his hands and fisted his hair. He could see the moment Mikuni left so clearly, he could hear the disappointment and anger in his voice- 

 

_ “I know what you did to those people! They were human, they were part of our team! You’ll do anything he says for cash won’t you, you little wage slave?” _

 

_ Take the money - that’s enough right? Should cover all the times I fucked you.” _

 

_ “I hate you, Tsuguri. You did this to yourself.” _

 

“So?” Mikuni asked, spreading his arms out across the back of the sofa. He raised a brow, expectantly. “Are you going to be a disappointment? Gonna live up to your reputation as a worthless piece of shit?”

 

Tsurugi looked down at the floor, not wanting to see the blond’s face any longer. He was hesitant to remain with Mikuni as he didn’t trust the other man at all, despite their years together. He was also afraid - afraid of starting a life away from C3 and afraid of what Touma might do if he ever caught him. There was no doubt in his mind that the vice-president would be relentless in his search. His hands started to tremble, an action that did not go unnoticed by Mikuni. The blond considered comforting Tsurugi but decided against it. Eventually, the vampire raised his head. His face was clear of the creases and lines caused by worry, in fact he was utterly expressionless. Even his eyes were blank. 

 

“I’ll stay with you, Kuni.”

 

A vile grin spread across Mikuni’s face. He always got what he wanted. 

 

-0- 

 

_ “You know you really should be doing your work. Shuhei said-” _

_ “Shut up, Kuni,” Tsurugi replied, stretching his arms up into the air. He rolled his head to one side, enjoying the warmth of the other man’s lap against his cheek. “Shuhei isn’t the boss of me. I’ll get to it when I get to it. We shouldn't be inside on a beautiful day like this. Besides, isn't this more fun?” _

_ Mikuni peered down at the brunet who was sprawled out beneath him and smiled. “Yeah, I guess. But I'm blaming you if we get in trouble.” _

_ “Fine, fine,” he chuckled, closing his eyes. “Stroke my hair.” _

_ “You're so demanding today.” _

_ The sun bore down on their heads and a pleasant wind rolled across the rooftop providing much-needed coolness. Mikuni leaned back against the wall he was propped up against and threaded his fingers through Tsurugi’s dark hair, gently scraping the man’s scalp in a way he knew would elicit a groan. He was not disappointed and soon a delightful sound fell from the older man’s lips. _

_ “Mmm,” Tsurugi hummed, nuzzling against the hand. “Be careful, Mikuni. I’d hate to get caught fucking when we’re meant to be at work.” _

_ “You’d love that, you pervert.” _

_ “Mmm,” Tsurugi hummed, sighing as his fingers moved pleasantly through his hair. “I suppose I would.” _

  
  



	4. Knock them down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

 

 

Tsurugi was now sitting on the sofa opposite Mikuni, staring absent-mindedly at the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table between them. The blond had a glass of the bright amber liquid between his slender fingers, the bottom of it resting on his bared kneecap.

 

“So, you'll stay here for a while until we figure out exactly how you work,” Mikuni explained. He took a sharp sip of his drink, wincing slightly at the harsh flavour burning his tongue. “We wouldn't want you crisping up in the sun now, would we?”

 

“I don't understand why you're doing this, Miku,” he replied, with a sigh. A lazy smile stretched over his face. “But I presume you're gonna be footing all my living bills?”

 

“What makes you say that?”

 

Tsurugi chuckled. “Well, you did _kill_ me and turn me into a filthy vampire without my consent. You owe me.”

 

“Pfft. You know money isn't an issue for me,” Mikuni scoffed. He leaned forward and pushed a glass of whiskey toward the agent. “But I don't owe you shit, asshole.”

 

“So mean, Kuni,” he cooed, feigning insult. He snatched the offered drink from the table and drained it in two large gulps before slamming it back down and wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “Oh yeah, can I have some clothes?”

 

Mikuni glanced down at the agent, who was dressed in nothing but a pair of his old plaid pajama bottoms. He smirked, gaze lingering on the other man’s naked torso long enough for him to feel uncomfortable. The blond was well aware of Tsurugi’s dislike of his own body and the scars that were engraved on it - he was more than happy to use that against him, even if Mikuni himself thought he was attractive, warts and all.

 

“No,” Mikuni answered, resting the side of his jaw on his knuckles. Tsurugi’s smile faltered slightly, much to his pleasure. “I'd prefer it if you walked around like that.”

 

Tsurugi raised a brow suggestively and began to pour himself another glass of whiskey. “Between that offer and you _flaunting_ yourself in that robe, I'd say you were trying to come onto me, Kuni.”

 

“Quite the opposite,” the blond replied, teeth baring through his aggressive smile. “I just like seeing you uncomfortable. And as for ‘flaunting’ - hardly. I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary. It must be your filthy mind.”

 

“Or maybe you just ooze sex appeal,” Tsurugi retorted, sarcastically. He couldn't help but think that comment was far less sarcastic than he intended. “Give me some clothes. Or I'll suck your blood when you sleep.”

 

Mikuni’s expression darkened. “You wouldn't dare.”

 

“You slit my throat,” Tsurugi replied, a serious streak to his playful tone. “There's little I wouldn't dare to do to you right about now.”

 

“Oh, I don't doubt that,” he said. His tone was smooth and seductive, inciting hundreds of implications in Tsurugi’s mind. Mikuni leaned forward and placed his glass down on the table before leaning back against the sofa cushions. The agent’s gaze was once again drawn to the man’s legs and he quickly poured himself another whiskey to avoid lingering too long.

 

“Are you trying to seduce me?” Tsurugi purred, shaking his head. “Because I'm not really in the mood.”

 

“Come on now Tsurugi,” Mikuni said, softly. “If I were really trying to seduce you, we both know you'd be hard and begging for me in about five seconds.”

 

The agent took a large gulp of whiskey and winced at the taste. Mikuni’s words sent a rush straight to his cock - as predicted. Tsurugi did his best to ignore it and shifted slightly on the sofa, though his actions only caused the scratchy material of his trousers to scrape against his sensitive crotch. Mikuni laughed lightly and tilted his head to one side. God he was beautiful, the agent thought, taken aback by the smoothness of his skin and the sharp, shadowed angles of his bones. He'd always been lovely but time had only improved his looks and given him the chance to perfect that stare he did so well, the one that screamed ‘ _I'm about a minute away from fucking the living daylight outta you’_.

 

“Seriously?” Mikuni snickered, glancing briefly down at Tsurugi’s crotch. The agent’s face turned an alarming shade of scarlet. “One comment and you're already hard? Has it been that long?”

 

“It-”

 

The blond’s eyes flashed maliciously as he caught Tsurugi’s line of vision. “Or does Touma not fuck you right?”

 

Tsurugi scowled and grit his teeth together. “Stop talking about Touma, Kuni.”

 

“Why not?” he asked, raising a brow. “Sensitive subject?”

 

“Just shut up.”

 

Mikuni narrowed his eyes. “Fine, fine.”

 

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment until Tsurugi started glugging his drink loudly. He let out a satisfied sigh and began to pour himself another glass.

 

“Slow down,” Mikuni warned, frowning. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

 

“You make me sick,” Tsurugi retorted. He slammed down another shot of whiskey and stood upright. “Just give me some damn clothes, Miku.”

 

Mikuni watched him silently for a moment and took a long sip of his drink. Eventually, he placed the glass onto the coffee table and then relaxed back into the cushions. “Beg.”

 

“What?” the vampire asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pajama bottoms.

 

“If you want clothes so badly, get on your knees, kiss my feet and beg for them,” he stated, uncrossing his legs.

 

Mikuni’s eyes were shining, the way they always did when he got excited. Tsurugi hesitated for a moment, then rounded the coffee table and dropped to his knees in front of the other man. He smirked and crawled forward on all fours, well aware that Mikuni was gazing at the roll of his shoulders beneath the bared skin of his back and the slender muscles on his arms. The thought of what he was doing was turning him on so much that he ignored how brattish Mikuni could be and leaned down to softly kiss his foot.

 

“Anything you say, Kuni,” he murmured, satisfied when the man shivered at the touch of his breath against his skin. Tsurugi chuckled under his breath and pressed kisses up his ankle, then his calve, and slid a hand up the outer thigh of the other leg. “You have such soft skin.”

 

“I told you to beg me, not compliment me,” Mikuni replied. Tsurugi could tell he was trying to keep his voice steady so as to act unfazed but he could hear the slight breathiness and telling wavers.

 

The agent grinned widely and continued to lavish kisses up his leg, past his knee onto his thigh, speaking between each one. “Please, Miku. I beg of you, please.”

 

Mikuni felt himself growing hard at the sight below him, he loved it when Tsurugi played submissive and the way he looked up at him through his long, dark eyelashes. He noted that those once golden eyes were now a vibrant crimson, just like Jeje’s. It was taking every bit of self-control to save face, to keep himself still and unmoving, though he did shudder softly when the vampire’s hand pushed further up his thigh and stroked the soft skin on the inner part of his leg.

 

“Please what?” Mikuni asked, breathily. Tsurugi smirked as he pressed his mouth against the inside of his knee. “What are you begging me for?”

 

The agent hummed lightly and, much to Mikuni’s surprise, bit down on the skin he had been kissing. The blond jerked slightly at the sensation and let out a strangled moan. A hand flew into Tsurugi’s hair and gripped the strands tightly, tugging at them to pull his head away. When the vampire looked back up at him, he was pleased to see a flush staining his cheeks and a wild look in his eyes.

 

“What are you begging me for?” he repeated.

 

Tsurugi chuckled and slid his hand higher, dipping beneath Mikuni’s dressing gown until it came to rest as high up his thigh as possible without touching his cock. The blond gripped his hair tighter, wanting to hear an answer, and shivered when Tsurugi smoothed one finger teasingly down his length.

 

“How ‘bout you try begging this time, Miku?” he hissed, grinning so widely that Mikuni could see the entirety of his new fangs. “Say _please_ and I might touch you properly.”

 

The blond huffed and raised his knee so that he could shove Tsurugi onto the floor with his foot. The agent laughed as Mikuni stood over him, one foot pressing firmly against his bare chest. He was surprised by how smooth his skin felt and supposed it was the effect of the transformation. The once vicious-looking scars had faded almost entirely and were now just a series of lighter patches on his torso.

 

“As if I'd say please to you,” he sneered, pressing down harder on Tsurugi’s chest. The agent let out a pained breath but it was mixed with laughter, only aggravating Mikuni further. “One last chance, tell me what you want or I'm going to sleep.”

 

Tsurugi rolled his eyes. “You are such a tease, Kuni. And rather obsessed with power trips. Can you not be any other role than dominant?”

 

“Not when it comes to you,” he answered, smirking. “Now-”

 

“Fine, fine,” Tsurugi said, waving a hand. It fell to his chest and rested on Mikuni’s foot. His voice lowered into a smooth purr. “I want you to-”

 

He reached up with his hand and slid his fingers softly across Mikuni’s calve.

 

“I want you to,” he repeated.

 

He rubbed small, delicious circles into the back of his knee, a spot he knew drove Mikuni crazy. The blond’s muscles tightened at his touch and he laughed lightly. Mikuni glared down at him but didn't move from his position.

 

“Tsurugi-” he began, clearly getting impatient. He was cut off when the vampire dug his fingernails into the sensitive skin. With a yelp, he jerked back and crashed down to the floor when Tsurugi pulled his leg out from underneath him. The vampire lunged forward and slammed his hands down on either side of Mikuni’s head whilst his legs splayed out over his waist and trapped him against the floor. Tsurugi laughed cruelly as Mikuni pushed against his chest and playfully snapped his teeth at the other man’s hands.

 

“I want you to apologise for killing me,” he hissed, bright eyes narrowing threatening. Mikuni reached wildly for Abel, but Tsurugi pressed his wrist into the ground. The action was hard enough to cause a quiet crack and Mikuni snarled in pain. The agent tutted and shook his head. “Naughty. Trying to strangle me again?”

 

“Get off me, you worthl-” Mikuni was silenced when Tsurugi’s palm clapped over his mouth, though he soon started to let out angry grunts from behind the hand.

 

“I want you to apologise,” Tsurugi hissed. His tone lost all its playful quality and was replaced by vicious discord. Mikuni didn’t like that look on him, it foretold incoming madness and when Tsurugi entered one of his episodes he was very difficult to get through to. As a vampire, he would be even more rogue. “And then I want to _fuck_ you into the floor.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Strike

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

_ He was always hunting for something he could never have. Something he never knew and never would know. He knew what it was, he’d read enough books to recognise it in the hazy eyes of freshly married couples and cooing mouths of new parents, but he couldn’t work out how to practice it. The actions themselves were simple, it was the complex feeling behind them he couldn’t understand. He loved his brother though, didn't he? He didn't know, perhaps he loved the idea of playing happy families though he had no real clue of how to do so.  _

 

_ It’s too late. _

 

_ It’s too fucking late. _

 

_ Mikuni sighed and leaned back against the headboard of his bed. Tsurugi had been gone for hours, off on some individual mission for Touma. The blond wrinkled his nose at the thought of the vice-president - he never liked that man. With a sigh, he picked up his book and continued to read, trying to ignore the unsettling worry turning his stomach. _

_ ‘Two ominous statues were installed over its entrance gate—one named “Melancholy” who appeared calm and the other named “Raving Madness” who was chained and angry.’ _

_ Mikuni placed the book down on his lap and took a sip of his tea as he mused on the sentence he had just read. It was one of Tsurugi’s - in fact, his books were the only possessions his partner truly owned. Next to their bunkbed was an overly stuffed bookcase, filled with a bizarre collection of paperbacks that Mikuni could only presume were from a charity shop as they all seemed to be in a poor condition. He never bothered looking at them before and he had sneered at first, laughing at the fact the agent could actually read considering his lack of interest in education, but soon found himself immersed in the oddities. It was better to distract himself than linger on the thoughts of Touma that kept creeping into his mind. There was no clear subject or interest hinted at by the titles on the spines. There were classics, dictionaries, modern fiction, crime dramas, comedies and a multitude of others. The tomes that seemed the most worn were the history books, much to Mikuni’s surprise. He mused on whether Tsurugi read about conflict and discord in order to remind himself that there was madness and terrible violence, in the world outside of his own head. _

_ He settled his cup of tea - black, Tsurugi had drunk all the milk as usual - on the elevated table and winced as he tried to move his body into a more comfortable position. Everything was incredibly sore, the result of a harsh mission earlier that week during which Tsurugi had thrown him out of the path of a vampire - straight into a brick wall. The blond hoped his partner would return soon so that he could ask for painkillers, he was all out. He picked up the book and re-read the line again. _

_ ‘Two ominous statues were installed over its entrance gate—one named “Melancholy” who appeared calm and the other named “Raving Madness” who was chained and angry.’ _

_ The book he was currently skimming was on the history of Britain and contained a number of different articles by various scholars. The item he was currently reading was a macabre piece on Bedlam, or Bethlem, a mental hospital within which many atrocities occurred. Mikuni noted that a number of pages had been marked bit down-turned corners. The quote he was reading had been underlined with pencil, along with a few others of similar ilk. Mikuni smiled and ran his finger over the indented graphite, picturing himself on one side of such a gate, calm and cool and innately joyless, whilst Tsurugi stood on the other, shackled and ferociously mad. The blond laughed to himself - what fitting keepers of insanity they would be! _

_ ‘For they be fallen so much out of themselves that it is incurable unto man.’ _

_ That sentence had been underlined so hard he could tell where the pencil nib had broken under pressure. He pictured the agent and frowned. Surely such an idiotic creature did not contemplate such thoughts. Did he think that his own mind was too far gone, Mikuni mused, did he seek salvation from that tumultuous, violent insanity that clouded his vision? The blond snorted as he turned another page - fat chance the agent had of any deliverance. _

_ ‘...wanting in humanity.’ _

_ This phrase had been circled multiple times. There was something else, a note, scrawled in the blank space around the text. Mikuni scowled and snapped the book shut. There, starkly in blank ink, his partner had scribbled ‘Mikuni Alicein’. He, lacking in humanity? What a farce, how utterly ridiculous! The sound of the door opening drew his attention and he turned his head to see Tsurugi stumbling through the door to their shared quarters, holding a number of plastic bags. The blond scowled and looked back at the closed book. The door slammed shut. _

_ “Hello Kuni!”  _

_ “Don't call me that,” the blond retorted. He twisted around so that he could swing his legs over the side of the bed. “Get me some painkillers or a shot of something.” _

_ “Say please,” the man said, teasingly. He removed his cloak and threw it onto the bottom bunk.  _

_ Mikuni rolled his eyes and began to climb down the ladder. He groaned as pain spiked across his shoulders and when he reached the ground he pressed his hands gently against his lower back. With a look of disdain in his eyes, he turned to face Tsurugi.  _

_ “I'll get it myself,” he stated, scathingly. He walked slowly to the kitchen area and started searching through the drawers for tablets. “Some help you are.” _

_ Tsurugi sat on one of the stools behind the kitchen island and started swinging his feet in the air. He chuckled and pressed his elbows against the countertop so that he could rest his chin on top of his knuckles. “You only had to say please.” _

_ “Fuck you,” the blond snapped. He slammed the drawer shut, his search having proved fruitless. “Where are they? I know you had them last.” _

_ The older man made a motion across his mouth as if zipping it shut, then smirked and tilted his head to one side. Mikuni felt a vein throb in his forehead. The little shit knew exactly how to aggravate him. Well, he wouldn't be beaten so easily. He crossed the small space between them and stood on the opposite side of the small counter. Tsurugi was staring up at him silently, eyes bright with amusement and lips curling at the edges. Mikuni reached across the space and ran his fingers gently through his dark hair, scraping his nails against his scalp in a way the older man adored. Predictably, Tsurugi started to hum with pleasure.  _

_ “Be a good boy, hmm?” Mikuni purred, eyes narrowing slightly. His fingers tightened in Tsurugi’s hair and he tugged the agent forward so that his chest was inclined over the counter. The blond skimmed his lips across the other man’s cheek, then his ear, then his neck. “Tell me.” _

_ “Nice try,” Tsurugi chuckled. He turned his head and caught Mikuni’s lips swiftly before pushing the blond away so that he could sit back down on the stool. “But no dice.” _

_ Mikuni scowled and nearly bared his teeth with frustration. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled irritably. “You're so fucking annoying.” _

_ “Aw, don't be like th-”  _

_ “Where were you all this time anyway?” the blond snapped. “Fucking Touma?” _

_ “No.” _

_ Tsurugi’s smile faltered and his shoulders seemed to tense slightly. It was that action that really caught his eye and made him look at the older man. There was a tiny smudge of red poking out of the collar of his black shirt, a small ring of shadow blossoming around his eye. Mikuni frowned.  _

_ “Did he hurt you?” he asked. Tsurugi opened his mouth to respond but Mikuni quickly interrupted him. “Don't lie. I'll know if you're lying.” _

_ The older man froze for a moment, then nodded slowly. He looked down at the countertop and let his hands fall into his lap - he looked so small in that moment. Too thin, too fragile. Mikuni didn't like that look on him, it was pathetic.  _

_ “What did he do?” he continued, rounding the island so that he could stand at the agent’s side. Tsurugi didn't reply so he span the stool round to face him and forced himself between Tsurugi’s thighs - that would get his attention. He looked up at Mikuni, his golden eyes telling of his unease. The blond raised a hand and placed it on his shoulder but quickly removed it when Tsurugi hissed loudly in pain.  _

_ “Fuck, ow-” he breathed, shakily. “It's fine, doesn't-” _

_ “It's not fine,” Mikuni retorted. He started to tug at the black shirt his partner always wore. “Take your shirt off. Without bitching, please, I'll get it off eventually so don't bother whining.” _

_ Tsurugi stared at him blankly, his eyes vacant of the playfulness that had been there two minutes earlier. There was that familiar, unreadable face that Mikuni knew to be a plastered on mask similar to his own. Eventually, Tsurugi lifted his arms and pulled his shirt over his head. He let it flutter to the floor and held his arms across his stomach as if to shield himself from view. Mikuni pursed his lips and a strange coldness spread across his chest as he looked over his partner’s body. There were four deep wounds spanning from his right shoulder to his left hip. They were still bloody. They looked like scratch marks. There were a few welts curling around his torso so Mikuni rounded the stool and observed his back. There were multiple red lacerations, vicious looking things surrounded by darkening bruises.  _

_ “Tsurugi,” the blond sighed, running a hand down his face. He let it drop onto the agent’s shoulder and he laced his fingers through Mikuni’s. “Why do you let him do this to you?” _

_ “A vampire got its claws into my chest-” the agent began, tensing up.  _

_ Mikuni prodded one of the welts on his back and rounded to face the man as he hissed in pain. “And what about the back?”  _

_ Tsurugi glanced up at him with his teeth grit and his eyes wide. If Mikuni didn't know any better he would have said he was frightened. The older man sighed and picked up his shirt. “You got hurt. I was meant to keep you safe.”  _

_ Mikuni stiffened and backed away slightly. This wasn't his fault, he thought to himself, Tsurugi didn't have to let himself get beaten for his sake. Still, there was a horrible twisting in his guts, one that drove him to wrap his arms around Tsurugi and pull him closely into his chest. They remained like that for a moment, then the older man looped his arms over Mikuni’s shoulders and rested his head in the crook of his neck. The blond could feel the lacerations on the man’s back throbbing beneath his palms.  _

_ “Stop this,” Mikuni muttered. Why did he care about this man, he thought, this strange, inhuman creature that slept beneath him. Perhaps he didn't, he didn't want to - but then why was his heart beating so fast and his stomach feeling sick at the thought of Touma touching Tsurugi, his Tsurugi - yes, his. His.  _ **_His._ **

_ “I can't,” Tsurugi said, unhappily. He sighed into Mikuni’s neck and the blond stepped away from him. He watched as the younger man turned away and headed back toward their beds. He felt his chest ache and he held out a hand, wordlessly imploring his partner to come back and hold him again.  _

_ “Miku-” _

_ “Stop,” the blond interrupted. He turned back to look at Tsurugi with a cold look on his face. “It doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to sleep.”  _

_ “Wait,” Tsurugi said, hastily. He stepped off the stool and strode across the room until he stood behind Mikuni. The younger man continued to stare stonily at him, eyes narrowing as Tsurugi began to search his pockets. Eventually he pulled out a small plastic packet and held it out. “Painkillers.” _

_ Mikuni raised a hand so that Tsurugi could drop the packet into his palm, then he nodded. “Thanks.” _

_ The agent smiled wearily. “For the record Miku, I'm not - I mean, there’s nothing going on between Touma and I. We’re just-” _

_ “A master and his dog,” Mikuni finished, fingers clenching around the packet of pills. His tone was vicious, Tsurugi felt a shiver run down his spine at the bite of his words. “Pathetic.” _

_ “I mean it!” he exclaimed, a hint of desperation in his voice. “You're the only one who-”  _

_ Mikuni silenced him with a rough kiss and one of his hands slipped around Tsurugi’s throat. His fingers dug into the soft skin there, making the agent cry out into his mouth. The blond thrust his tongue between Tsurugi’s parted lips and sucked the bottom one between his teeth. He tugged on it harshly, enough to break the skin and cause the taste of iron to roll across his tongue. When he drew back, Tsurugi’s mouth was stained scarlet and was swollen from the pressure of the bruising kiss.  _

_ “I'm the only one, Tsurugi,” he murmured, stroking the agent’s hair in some mocking attempt at affection. “You're mine.” _

_ Tsurugi chuckled and leaned into the fingers stroking him. “Do you think there will come a day when I don't belong to anyone?” _

_ It was meant as a light-hearted observation but something in that question made Mikuni feel uncomfortable. He didn’t answer, he just pressed his lips back against Tsurugi’s and swallowed the word ‘no’ before it could leave his mouth.  _

-0- 

Mikuni snarled viciously and clawed at Tsurugi’s face with his free hand. His nails managed to dig shallowly into the skin on his cheek before the vampire hissed and forced his wrist to the floor in an identical fashion to the other. Now without his hands, the blond stilled and tried to formulate a way out from beneath the manic agent. Insanity was shining in his bright, red eyes, vibrant enough to make Mikuni proceed with caution, Tsurugi was quick to spiral out of control. He’d had these fits of rage toward Mikuni before but back then they’d be more equally matched in physical strength, now he was a damn vampire. Not only that, this time he actually had a reason to be pissed off and a motive to kill him. He doubted Tsurugi would actually kill him, he knew that the agent  _ cared _ about him. What a fool. 

Before he could make any further move, the agent slammed his head against Mikuni’s. The blond groaned and stars burst in front of his vision, blinding him temporarily. Tsurugi took the opportunity to stand, simultaneously dragging Mikuni up by his collar. The younger man was still trying to regain his senses after the rough blow to the head when he threw him down onto the coffee table. The bottle of whiskey shattered beneath his back and the liquid rolled off the surface onto the floor. Tsurugi stood above him as he panted, the action having knocked the air out of him, and smirked at the blond as he started to heave. 

Mikuni raised himself up on his elbows and shook his dazed head, finally clearing some of the fog clouding his vision. His body was aching from the force of which Tsurugi threw him down and it hurt to sit up. The vampire dragged him back up to a standing position by his hair and held it painfully tight. Mikuni, half-dazed by the rough treatment, couldn’t find the strength to react. His limbs felt like dead weight, disconnected from his brain despite him willing them to move. Even in this state, he wouldn’t let Tsurugi beat him. 

“Say sorry,” Tsurugi ordered. He was observing Mikuni with glee, like a cat playing with his food. The blond didn’t like this role reversal, the loss of control was extremely disconcerting. He opened his mouth to call for Jeje, but Tsurugi shoved his fingers into his mouth before he could get a word out. “Tut tut, can’t handle things on your own?”

Mikuni squealed into the fingers, his brows furrowing. With great effort he raised his hands and tried to push Tsurugi away. The agent grinned, amused by how much weaker Mikuni felt after he had been imbued with this new strength. His mind was racing, barely coherent, only focusing on getting the younger man to say what he wanted to hear.  _ Sorry. Sorry I left. Sorry I wasn’t there. Sorry I killed you. Sorry I ruined your life. Sorry I ruined your death too.  _ He removed his fingers from Mikuni’s mouth and wrapped them around his slender neck before tugging again on his hair. It felt as if he was the only thing holding the blond upright, his muscles were so slack. 

“Come on,” Tsurugi urged, tightening his grip on the blond’s throat threateningly. “I won’t stop until you apologise.”

“Sorry,” Mikuni croaked, sarcastically. He brought his hands up to the one around his neck and clasped it tightly. 

The vampire growled, baring his teeth in the younger man’s face. “Apologise and  _ mean it. _ ”

“Ah Tsurugi,” the blond snickered, his breath now coming out in strained wheezes. “You know I’d rather die than apologise to you.”

His chokehold tightened and Mikuni’s eyes bulged, surprised that Tsurugi was increasing the pressure. The Eve spluttered and he began to panic - Tsurugi wouldn’t kill him, would he? It had been a long time since they were anything but enemies, perhaps the other man had changed, perhaps he’d truly lost his mind. The agent stared at him, unblinking, for a moment longer, then he shoved the blond away from him. Mikuni stumbled and fell onto his knees beneath Tsurugi. He let out a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his sore neck. With a smile, he looked up at the vampire and gestured toward his bedroom. 

“There’s a chest of drawers in there. Second drawer has t-shirts, third has trousers. Go nuts.”

Tsurugi turned away from him silently and strode out of the main room, leaving Mikuni alone. The blond let out a deep, shaky sigh. For a moment he thought the older man might actually have killed him. An unpleasant smirk rose on his face - what an interesting development. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
